Focus on the positive...

So, what do you do when you feel bleh about your writing? Focus on the stuff you've done right.

I've been feeling discouraged. Despite the prayers of my readers (thank you, btw!) and getting positive feedback in my rejection letters. Huh? Yeah, my last one for a short story said it was "well-written" but I guess was not quite the right style for the anthology. Even rejections can be positive.

So, I grab onto those words.

Yes, I can write.

Yes, I can write well.

And here's proof:

TEN sales of personal essays so far. Some of those are the same story sold multiple times.

THREE short stories accepted in online magazines:

"Eyes on the Hilltop" will be in Christian Fiction Online Magazine's July issue. That's twelve days away--woo-hoo! (Not that I'm counting :).

"The Artist" will be in Mindflights sometime in the next few months--still waiting on notice of the exact publish date. THIS is one based on a character in my book (so it's fantasy)! It's something that happened to her many years before the time frame of the novel. If you like this, you'll like my book :). Many of you are probably familiar with Mindflights--it's a Christian-friendly fantasy/sci-fi webzine.

"Willing Blood" will be in The Absent Willow Review on August 16 (through Sept 15). This is a dark fantasy/horror story. I really like this magazine so far (it's a secular mag, for those of you who want to know). I hadn't really heard of them before I submmitted, but now that I've been reading some of the stories in there, I'm really impressed, and even more proud to say they accepted my story!

OK, see--that cheers me up.

I've sent out a few more queries, and it felt really good to include real, solid writing credits. Now, I just have to stop worrying that it's not enough. And focus on getting more. I've got several stories out there being reviewed for different publications, as well as a few in the works. And there's the "well-written" but rejected one I need to find a home for.

I've made a lot of progress on my second book (Seeking Unseen) lately, too. I've got the prologue and the first fifteen chapters written (about 30,000 words so far). It looks like it will be about the same length as Finding Angel. Maybe a little shorter. It's been fun writing so far because of the addition of a new main character. Can't tell ya about that, though, or it will ruin Finding Angel for you!

Okey, doke. Time to take the kiddos to the pool. What else is there to do in Florida? It's hot. Always. Bleh. (Oops, better find something positive to focus on....)